HAWTHORN

Having just recently saved Blythewood School for Girls from the evil Shadow Master Judicus van Drood, Avaline Hall is looking forward to relaxing and enjoying her senior year. As if.

Unfortunately, the darkness is relentless, and all too soon Avaline and her allies find themselves preparing for one last battle, with the fate of the world literally resting on their wings and shoulders. In the third and final installment of the Blythewood series, Goodman again delivers elegant prose, cleverly weaving a fantastical tale into the fabric of history. When an unexpected trip through the land of Faerie allows Avaline a glimpse of a war-torn future that will cost many of her friends and family their lives, she rallies a band of familiar characters to race across the Atlantic to stop van Drood from amassing the powers of darkness to fuel the fires of war. With only 17 days before the assassination of the archduke that will ignite World War I, the odds are stacked against them. Blythewood fans will find plenty to enjoy in the fast-paced, high-stakes series finale. The only disappointment is that, for the first time, the romance between Avaline and her Darkling love takes a back seat to the action, but that doesn’t mean there are no swoon-worthy moments.

A satisfying end to an epic trilogy.